FTC press release: “The Federal Trade Commission today told a meeting of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers that access to the Whois databases is “critical to the agencys consumer protection laws, to other law enforcement agencies around the world, and to consumers.” Whois databases are online information directories that contain contact information… Continue Reading
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Category Archives: Domain Names
ICANN Report Tracks Problems With WhoIs Data
ICANN Publishes Third Annual Update on the InterNIC Whois Data Problem Report System, 31 March 2006. Continue Reading
GAO Reports Extensive False Data on Domain Name Registration
Internet Management: Prevalence of False Contact Information for Registered Domain Names, GAO-06-165, November 4, 2005. Highlights. “Based on test results, GAO estimates that 2.31 million domain names (5.14 percent) have been registered with patently false data–data that appeared obviously and intentionally false without verification against any reference data–in one or more of the required contact… Continue Reading
U.S. Will Maintain Internet Oversight
News from the World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) that the U.S. and representatives from 100 other nations have reached an agreement to continue the oversight of Internet domain names in the control of the United States, with administration provided by the Department of Commerce National Telecommunications and Information Administration. Continue Reading
ICANN and Verisign Agree to Settle Lawsuits
Press release from October 24, 2005: “ICANN today announced that it has reached an proposed agreement to end all pending litigation over its long-standing dispute with VeriSign. The proposed agreement documents are being posted for public comment and are subject to final approval of the ICANN Board. This settlement will clear the way for a… Continue Reading
Web Archives Provide Sources for Discovery
Today’s Wall Street Journal featured a front page article ($), Lawyers’ Delight: Old Web Material Doesn’t Disappear – Wayback Machine and Google Archive Billions of Pages, Including Deleted Ones, which is worth review. It focuses on how old web pages available from the Internet Archive and cached pages from Google can be of particular value… Continue Reading
Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance Released Today
The United Nations Secretary-General today transmitted the Report of the Working Group on Internet Governance (24 pages, PDF) to the President of the Preparatory Committee of the World Summit on the Information Society, Ambassador Janis Karklins, and the WSIS Secretary-General, Mr Yoshio Utsumi. See also the Background Report, also released today: “This Background Report accompanies… Continue Reading
U.S. Gov’t Declares Intention to Maintain Control Over Internet Domain Name System
“In remarks to the Wireless Communications Association (WCA) on June 30, 2005, Assistant Secretary Michael Gallagher announced U.S. principles on the Internet’s Domain Name and Addressing System.” [Link] U.S. Principles on the Internets Domain Name and Addressing System: “The United States Government intends to preserve the security and stability of the Internet’s Domain Name and… Continue Reading
ICANN to Address Unrestricted Access to Whois Data
ICANN Watch reports: “At the Luxembourg ICANN meeting, the US Government is organizing a 4-hour session of the Governmental Advisory Committee (GAC) on how public display of Whois data supports “combating illegal activities on the Internet.” Perhaps sensing that time is running out on unrestricted access to Whois data, the US GAC representative and US-based… Continue Reading
Internet Governance Project Report on Proposed ICANN Reforms
Klein and Mueller: What to Do About ICANN: A Proposal for Structural Reform, April 5, 2005. “…Three structural reforms are proposed: 1) Create an international oversight body to replace US oversight of ICANN and ICANN’s Governmental Advisory Committee; 2) restore ICANN’s global Board elections; 3) Give ccTLD managers and Internet Protocol address users a choice… Continue Reading
Report Calls for Changes to Domain Name System
Press release from The National Academies: “The domain name system that helps users find their way across the Internet by substituting user-friendly names for computer-friendly addresses, has performed well, says a report from the National Academies’ Computer Science and Telecommunications Board. However, the report emphasizes that the system should be managed by a non-governmental organization,… Continue Reading
Release of Long Overdue Report on Domain Name System
Press release: Key Internet System Faces Technical and Political Challenges Signposts in Cyberspace: The Domain Name System and Internet Navigation examines the performance and prospects of the Domain Name System from technical and institutional perspectives, and also looks at how navigation technologies and institutions facilitate finding and accessing Internet resources. It describes the evolution of… Continue Reading
